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GOODBYE,
Philippine karting! Hello to the international racing
circuit!
This is
what Michelle Bumgarner uttered recently as she bade the
local racing circuit goodbye before her departure for
the United States.
Bumgarner was chosen by S&L Racing, a new race team
formed by National Football League stars Ray Lewis and
Gale Sayers, after a fierce four-day competition in the
Accelerate Drivers’ Shootout recently.
Accelerate is an entry-level professional training
series program intended to groom minority talents for
the Champ Car Atlantic and World Series.
The said
event was held in various locations in the US and
contested by six of the brightest stars from all
motorsports backgrounds that included Bumgarner in
Phoenix (karts and corvettes), Las Vegas (open-wheel
cars) and Laguna Seca (open-wheel cars).
Included
in the weeklong trials were stock car-time trials,
formula car training, on-site driver instruction and
physical training with Lewis (a Baltimore Ravens All-Pro
linebacker), clinics on public speaking and managing the
media. The event culminated in a driver evaluation under
the expert eye of Ove Olsson of Newman-Wachs Racing, a
team partner in the Accelerate program.
Her
selection made her a recipient of an assistance that
would allow her to put her racing career forward.
Bumgarner, who signed up recently with the US-based
Strategic Asset Marketing headed by motorsports veteran
Andy Deas, will undergo further testing and evaluation
in Formula BMW, Star Mazda and hopefully in Champ Car
Atlantic.
The
Champ Car Atlantic Championship, on the other hand,
continues to be the premier open-wheel development
series in
North America. Now on its 34th season, the championship is noted for
its long history of graduating its stars into Champ Car
events such as Paul Tracy, Jimmy Vasser, Bobby Rahal,
Danny Sullivan, Michael Andretti and Jacques Villeneuve.
Competing in newly designed Swift 016A chassis powered
by a 2.3-liter Mazda-Cosworth engine riding on Yokohama
Advan Racing Slicks, this year’s competitors will fight
for the 12-race championship and the unique $2-million
Champ Car Series champion’s bonus.
All
these mean that Bumgarner is now ending her stint in
competitive karting. “After six years of driving
go-karts it’s now goodbye. I’ve been racing for four
years in Asia and two years in Europe. I really had fun
in karting. I will miss it definitely.”
The
17-year-old Bumgarner, who saw action in the tough
Italian Open Masters and in the World Cup ICA Class
Karting Championships in Suzuka, Japan, where she wound
up second in one race, said that her contract with the
international marketing agency calls for her to further
hone her skill in cars. “That’s what I’ll be doing for
the rest of the year since by next year, hopefully, I
will be driving Atlantics.”
Actually, nothing is definite yet for Bumgarner since
S&L still has to determine which branch of racing she
will enter after the yearlong training program. “Yes,
nothing definite yet! They will decide where I should
start my career in car racing. But this will really be a
big help for me since they will take care of all my
expenses. I am also very excited because this could be
the start of a big future for me as it’s taking me
closer to my dream of reaching Formula One.”
Talking
of the future heir to her throne, Bumgarner said that so
far “there is only one driver in the country today who
is showing a lot of promise. She is Alessandra
Madrigal. She is very lucky because she is now being
handled by my coach Terry Fullerton, who is a former
world karting champion. She’s also lucky because she is
now being handled professionally at a very young age of
11. I had the opportunity of having such a coach when I
was 13. I think she’s going to make it.” |
